"Jingle Bells" is often thought of as a Christmas song, however there is no mention of Christmas. It is a song that many of us hear from a young age. While listening to the song, notice how the lyrics fade after the opening refrain. While singing "Jingle Bells" in music, we have been breaking down the lyrics. Questions that have been discussed include: Who is dashing? What is an open sleigh?
This week we've been listening to "The Skater's Waltz" and "skating" around the music room on paper plates - moving musically to the music. We have been identifying the different instruments that we are hearing and conducting in 3/4 time.
Here are two different recordings of the Pumpkins and Astronauts singing "No More Pie." I let them know that they were going to make a recording to put up on the GBS website and that only family and staff would have access to it. On our first attempt, I made a mistake (singing the wrong lyrics) and discussed how we could simply delete it and try again. This reinforced the idea that mistakes are okay, and a part of learning. We then made another recording, listened to it, and then voted as to whether we were all happy with the results.
Here is an example of a "call and response" song where the leader sings a line and the group repeats, singing it back to the leader. Mostly done with the older 4 or 5 groups, I sing this to them twice during the class, letting them know that the third time, they will become the teacher and I will become the student. It is interesting to see how certain individuals in the group step up and sing lyrics that they can recall, and then others fill in the blanks if/when the first ones are unable to remember the words. It becomes a group effort that gives them a chance to succeed on their own. Ask your child to sing it to you this weekend and I'll post a sound clip of one of our groups singing it next week. No More Pie
Oh My! Oh My! No more pie. No more pie. Pie's too sweet. Pie's too sweet. I want a piece of meat. I want a piece of meat. Meat's too red. Meat's too red. I want a piece of bread. I want a piece of bread. Bread's too brown. Bread's too brown. I think I'll go to town. I think I'll go to town. Town's too far. Town's too far. I think I'll take a car. I think I'll take a car. Car won't go. Car won't go. I fell and stubbed my toe. I fell and stubbed my toe. Toe gives me pain. Toe gives me pain. I think I'll take a train. I think I'll take a train. Train had a wreck. Train had a wreck. Ouch! I hurt my neck. Ouch! I hurt my neck. Oh My! Oh My! No more pie. No more pie. During these final weeks of October, I often sing a song/nursery rhyme that I fondly recall from my childhood. It can be a useful tool for teaching the younger groups like the Apples, Lilypads, Watermelons, Crayons and Legos the difference between fiction/make-believe and reality. Around Halloween, our children are inundated with scary images of skeletons, witches, zombies, spiders on a daily basis.
I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly—is a children's rhyme and song known as a cumulative song. It tells the story of an old woman who swallowed increasingly large animals, each to catch the previously swallowed animal. As I sing the song, I ask the children if this can really happen, where a human being can swallow all these animals and have them run around in your stomach and chase each other. We realize that it is silly/can't happen and that the absurd ideas in the song are for fun only, just like how some people dress up in costumes for Halloween or like to hear scary stories this time of year. I let them know that if they get overwhelmed on Halloween night, to remember that is just people pretending to be monsters and if you get scared, you can take a break from it all. The older classes also have been singing and studying songs that represent emblems or symbols of our country: "The Star-Spangled Banner, You're a Grand Old Flag, My Country 'Tis of Thee, Hail to the Chief (President) and Hail Columbia (Vice President).
Most of the older classes such as the Otters, Clouds, Battleships, Pumpkins and Astronauts are learning about the government. I found this website called "Flocabulary" https://www.flocabulary.com/ that creates Educational Hip Hop songs. We've been listening to "The Presidential Election Process" and noticing how this particular style/genre of music uses rhymes and "near rhymes" to create a song. We also discuss the instrumentation that is used and the repetitive chorus. During the first days in music after coming back from the summer break, we often sing familiar songs and play instruments to accompany those songs. Here, some of the Legos playing resonator bells.
Music classes are held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with each class lasting 30 minutes.
The Apples, Lily Pads, Watermelons, and Crayons have music classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Legos have their music classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Pumpkins, Astronauts, Battleships and Clouds attend one music class per week on Wednesdays. The Otters attend one music class a week on Tuesday. |
Archives
September 2018
|